Went out this morning with a friend of mine to a piece of property where the landowners are anxious to cull the abundant coyote population. They were kind enough to also let us know that they usually see the yotes out in the fields about 8:30 AM. We gladly welcomed the morning daylight hunts after some long, cold nights with limited success. Well, this morning was a "bluebird" morning for February 23 in Schenctady County, NY (near Albany NY). The temp was 30, breeze was light and a slight overcast kept us from squinting. The snow cover we got yesterday was gone.

About 40 minutes into the hunt my friend, who was set up about 200 yards away, began again with the mouth howl call. Now, I just finished telling him the other day that it certainly may do the job, but in all my years of being outdoors in the morning and evening I had never once heard a coyote howl during daylight. I lived in an area thick with coyotes for years, and it just never happened. Well, don't you know, as soon as he starts calling, he gets a response on the nearby hillside.

About 10 minutes went by as we heard the agitated yote howling back, then moving, then howling again. Five minutes later, this beauty showed up trotting along a small dam, heading in my direction. He stopped several times, not offering a quality shot, then finally stopped and turned broadside at about 130 yards. That's all it took - I fired once and the ole boy immediately began spinning, then jumped onto the frozen pond and kept spinning until, about 10 seconds later, he keeled over and that was that. My friend ended up seeing 4 more later in the hunt, but no shots presented.

I always wanted a full body mount coyote, and of all the ones I've seen shot or shot myself in recent years I haven't seen but one or two more "pretty" (to me) than this one, so it's off to the taxidermist for a full body mount. He measured it for forms, it was 4 3/4" face, 40" tip of nose to base of tail and about 42 lbs.

Any suggestions on the pose, etc. are welcome. I have decided on floor mount, and against a laying down, as I want all of the color to show.
I also took many pics that will come in handy, as I reminded the taxidermist that I want a brown nose (like a doberman), not the black one that most coyotes have.

Here's how it all went down:

Here's where I shot from:


There he is out on the ice (look over tip of barrel)


Here's the spinning death dance he did onto the ice:


The lucky hunter with Remington 700 LH VS, .223, Leupold 6.5-20 AO 40mm, Nosler 40 gr. Ballistic Tip reloads, 3,300 fps. Exit wound on broadside shot was about the size of a dime (chest).


Here's a side view of the body - the entrance hole is at the red dot. I was really happy at how even the coloration was.


Here's a closeup of the face - I told the taxidermist that I expect the whiskers as in this picture.


My friend and I after a successful hunt!


Our season in NY ends at the end of March, so plenty of time left!

Erict, That's one beautiful dog! I've bagged my share in Columbia county, but none that pretty. Well done. Continue the good work.
Dave

Nice Yote....looks like a big ol red fox!

Mark D

What a beautiful animal; and you're right, the coloration is very even. I'm used to seeing coyotes kind of a drab gray (in AZ and CO); they must eat better where you are! Good luck with the mount, and congrats!

EXCELLENT HUNT AND EXCELLENT PICS!!! Way to go big dog!!! Get another one next trip!!! GHD

For what it is worth I would do it closed mouth, not a fan of the open thing. Be it with bears/cats or yotes I personally feel the whole open mouth thing looks a bit cheesy!

Mark D

Erict: Great photos!
Great Hunting!
Great story!
Great Trophy!
Great Rifle!
Great scope! (My all time favorite all around Varminting scope!)
Great caliber!
Good for you guys!
That is one of the most beautiful pelts I have ever seen on a Coyote!
Good for you and getting it taxidermied!
I took two friends from New York Varmint Hunting last year and we had a blast!
Among other Varmints we harvested here in SW Montana was a "TROPHY" Boar Porcupine!
My friends from New York had never seen a Porcupine as big as this one was!
It was a monster I am sure it weighed 35 pounds!
Like groundhog devastation says - keep after them!
Theres still time left in the season and theres lots more Coyotes to be thinned before the Whitetailed Deer fawns come along!
Thanks for the great posting.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Wow, the color on that fellow makes me think that the giant red fox I saw the other day was actually a coyote.

Eric:

We see one now and then with differing coloration and body size, head/face shape etc.

Same as we find, this one looks like to me it has some domestic breed of dog in him due to the color, weight, size, and less pointed ears, nose is also not as slender as a pure bred coyote either.

Far as a mount, IF teeth are exposed make Damned sure he use's plastic teeth and NOT the natural teeth as they will crack soon as they dry out. Iv'e had that happen on fox, and bobcat and Dad's bear did too.

I'd also insist on sending the fur to a fur tanning firm and NOT let the taxidermist do it himself no matter how mad it makes him. Every single hide I've seen tanned in local shops lose hair, lips, toes, eyelids etc within a very few years. Where a tannery will do a perfect job.

IF it is fleshed out right. They won't flesh it for you, unless you pay extra and some won't at all.

Run a search for: tanneries, there's a dandy up in NJ that's plumb reasonable, they did a beautiful job on a buddy's 25 coyotes and two elk hides a few yrs ago. Some brothers tannery is the name of it, can't think just what it is now, so do a search, ok? There's another couple out in Idaho just as good. Shop around first. Just don't let him do it himself no matter what.

Be prepared to pay some extra to have the tannery make sure it's fleshed out right before they tan it, IF they offer this service.

These are the ONLY assurances you'll have of this beauty lasting more than 2-5 years without problems. He's too pretty an animal not to have it done right.

Also: check out: www.noonkesters.com, or www.noonkesterstaxidermysupply.com, and www.taxidermist suppliers, you can study the various mount positions and mouth sets to help decide what you might want. Well worth taking the time before anything is done.

You'll discover I'm right if you don't follow these suggestions pard. Carve it on your wall and study his work and you'll see I'm not bullshitting you on these things.

I wish you well, please share pics of the finished job once it's done.

George

That sure looks like Balto......

IV

I've never seen a coyote that looked like that. It is interesting for sure. In fact I'd be willing to go along with the idea you just took a new record size Red Fox! Nate

Never thought that I would hear myself call a coyote beautiful, but that is one beautiful animal! Good for you!

Good looking,but I don't think will make Boone&Crockett.

fantastic ,way to go men!!! thanks for shareing , regards jjmp

Hello;
You might want to show this one to your local F and W biologist. If I didn't know better, I'd say you got a cross between a coyote and a fox. I've seen coyotes with this deep a shade of red, but it's usually on their legs and modified by the usual brown and grey. This guy doesn't even have the obligatory black tail tip or the spot halfway up.
Grizz

erict: Gorgeous Coyote and well done! I have seen a couple with the same coloring in nearby Rensselaer County. Matter of fact, I missed a similar "Red" last year while deer hunting in said county, and I truly regret it. As far as the mount pose, what was his position at the shot? I am sure you will always remember.

A good taxidermist can prepare the form to represent about any position you want.

Sure has been a mild winter in this area and the Coyotes don't like that! However, I do; along with Mr. Deer!!

From the pictures there seems to be a house in the background? If so a bullet could richocet towards it.

That looks like a red fox to me.

Here is a average female coyote shot on the NY border.

Hey Erict,what camera did you use to take those picture? Beautiful part of the world, The Adirondacks.

erict: PM me if your interested and you can mail me a few hairs (make sure they have follicles attached) and I can sequence some sections of its mDNA... would be interesting to see what its genetic comp is...

IV

Thanks for all the responses - I've been away for a few days, but here's some feedback at ya':

308Sako - While most of our coyotes here in NY tend to be the typical color, there are a fair number of lighter colored reds and blondes running around. Less common from what I've seen are the melanistic? ones that run from dark to almost black.

Mark D - The only mouth open that I think looks natural is the howl, either standing or sitting. However, I think a howling coyote mount pose might get "old" after a while - I'm leaning heavily towards a simple trot, just as it was just before I shot it.

Georgld - I have never got bad advice here on AR, so I don't worry too much about being BS'ed. You took the time to write, and I'm taking the time to look into the sources you sent and your other advice - I learned a long time ago that you usually get what you pay for, and to do it right, or do it twice (no chance of doing it twice here). I'll post pics when it gets back.

Savage99 - I knew someone was going to chime in sooner or later about the houses. Both houses are owned by the families of the property owners, they knew we were hunting back there, I knew where the houses were, and the shot was not at the house. No animal, no matter how big, unique, etc. is worth sacrificing safety.


Shootaway - Camera is a Canon PowerShot A80 4-megapixel 3x zoom. One day soon I'll probably upgrade, but if there is any advice I can give anyone about cameras is that the camera you have in your hand takes much better pictures than the camera you left at home. I take my camera EVERYWHERE, drives down to the store, to work, and on every hunt - spare batteries and a ziploc bag make the trip with it. There are some pretty darn neat things I've taken pictures of only because I had the camera with me. The other advice about digital cameras is to take plenty of shots of the same thing, some with flash on, some off, etc. Out of the 5 shots of the same pose, you will undoubtedly end up with one that is the best, and usually has focus, lighting and composition all working together.

IdahoVandal - I'll PM you on that - thanks.

erict and IV, If you do test this one PLEASE post the results. I'm curious as heck! Nate

I am waiting for My Strawberry Blonde Coyote to come back. SHot her in Maine. I have also seen the red, black, and white her in MA. I am sure it has nothing to do with the so-called coydogs people like to talk up.

Although I am curiouse about the fellow that wants to do the DNA typing. Who and where do you do it? Here in Mass I worked with our officials on skull and teeth sizes and dimensions to try and determine if any dogs were crossbreeds for pets.

If it were a fox gentlemen, all you have to do is look for the Black ears/legs and White tip on the tail. If that fails the skull will tell for sure. Sagital crest if very differant.

RustyD: I would do it here in our lab, extracting DNA from hairs is a simple process, next I would PCR a few loci and look at the allele sizes of the different loci; at certain loci coyotes only have a few possible combinations i.e 179 bp's or 183 bp's etc. If we find an allele with a length not known in the coyote genome then we start looking at what species may have that specific allele length, its realy a process of elimination. Once we find it (say it was a domestic dog) then we start looking at loci that are known to have differences in base pair lengths at specific locations of the genome. (In a nutshell)

IV

I was curious what Lab you work for? SOunds interesting. I work here at Mass. State Laboratory Institute. Unfortuneately I do not work in those areas any longer.

I am a grad student working on a mule deer/ whitetail hybridization project at Washington State University, I do my lab work at U.Idaho (where I did my undergrad.)

IV

Kewl!

Thats a BEAUTIFUL yote and some great pictures. Looks like you have a nice little setup near that pond.

Nice dog, I shot one this morning just outside my house. Lot's of mange and no belly hair. We have had a mild winter and I don't know if that adds to the problem or not. If I could figure out how to post the photo, I would.

I see the houses on the other side of the pond too. Seems kind of dangerous to be shooting in that direction.

I shot and trapped reddish color yotes but nothing that red.

They never bring the prices that a good silver one does.

Nice dog! I also see the houses, but wouldn't e to worried as you shot the coyote at the edge of the pond and it traveled to where it is now after the shot.

Mike

Savage99,
The Red thing is deffinately a yote, and your coyote you have pictured is a male! check the black spot right in front of his back legs on his belly. That is where HE pee's from haha. On mature males it is black, but younger males it isn't.

quote:

Originally posted by bkmastr:
Savage99,
The Red thing is deffinately a yote, and your coyote you have pictured is a male! check the black spot right in front of his back legs on his belly. That is where HE pee's from haha. On mature males it is black, but younger males it isn't.

If you had waited just 13 more days it would have been an even year since this thread was last commented on.

quote:

If you had waited just 13 more days it would have been an even year since this thread was last commented on.



Frank

This new math always throws me off.

lol kinda what i was thinking... but u know "2" is an EVEN number. i don't even remember how i came to this post. i didn't realize it was made a couple years ago. haha my bad

Very neat!

Erict,

glad you referenced this post. Somehow I missed it in its original iteration. Great story, pix and critter. Thanks
GWB